Why is that no matter how many new tech toys I buy myself I always go back to where it started? I have more notebooks filled with my writing in no particular order than I even know what to do with.
I can’t get away from it, there is no escape, no matter what I do I have to write it down.
Even my NaNoWrimo stories are at least partially in a notebook… and then of course I have to type it up when I get the chance. Yes I know I am doubling the work but writing in those notebooks in like an addiction I can’t cure.
How do you all do your writing? Notebook, Macbook, Napkin?
I know I can’t be the only one who can’t make the transition, right?
Literary.Land.of.Alysia 
Can not do without notebooks but gradually I am more fluid when at the keyboard
Macbook, cell phone, ipad, and yes, sometimes even paper and pencil. And then comes the dreaded task of consolidating it all… Best of luck!
I (apparently) hold my pencil very weird which has caused a writing bump, as I like to call it to surface on my ring finger. It hurts when I write too much. Laptop, it is!
I still keep a moleskine journal handy for writing. It is especially handy when I don’t have time to notate something on my phone or open up my laptop. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a notebook first and then typing it up later. Usually that helps me with creating new drafts after I get that first draft jotted down on paper. I say keep going with whatever creative outlet works best for you 🙂
Book writing is on the laptop because I type faster than I write. Outlining, character designs, planning, maps, and all other pre-book notes are in various notebooks and notepads. Sometimes you really do need to go old school.
There is something primal about writing your story down in a notebook. It’s where it all began when I was younger, writing everything down there so it feels natural to do it now. Even with the added consequence of having to type it up after. I feel like I get it all out on paper and then when I type it up, it’s like a editing/clean-it-up type of therapy.
It’s even funnier because when I think of a story and type it first…I lose interest in it much more quickly, I find it hard to have any type of emotional connection to the characters until I get out my ‘Handy Dandy Notebook’ and fill it with scribble scrabble. 🙂
Yes! Me too. My first draft of anything is handwritten… I just find it a lot more organic that way. Maybe if I could touch-type it’d be different! Then I type up the first draft (in stages, as I go) – so my second draft comes from that. And yes, it does take longer, I’m sure – but that’s the way it works for me.
I’m a Mac guy, but I think I may try to “kick it old school” just to mix it up. I also have voice activated Mountain Lion, but have never tried it. Variety is the spice of life.
OoOo voice activation, now that could either go really well for me or really poorly lol 🙂
I love the feel of pen to paper. Wayne Dyer writes his books longhand. Of course, he has someone else to type it.
If only I could find someone to do the typing lol
There is definitely something about feeling the pen/pencil strokes against the paper that feels so much more authentic to me. And as far as typing i like my ancient Underwood that I got third-hand… you have to really put some effort into pressing those keys. and you get that rewarding, resounding, clickity clack.
Yellow legal pads and red pens. If I type it on the computer first, I spend too much time “editing” (aka “deleting”) as I go along. I’m glad I’m not the only one out there!
Yes! And I also share the use of a red pen 🙂
me too! though I can use my laptop, I can never let go writing on notes. when at times I’m about to sleep yet there are still lots of thoughts in mind, I can always count on it.
That’s the same notebook, I use…right down to the color! Have a small yellow version for my car! 🙂
I can’t leave notebooks/composition books/diaries behind, either. I do most of my writing on a computer, but when it comes to journaling, nothing beats pen and paper! 🙂
no, you’re not the only one. I do, more these days it seems, write on my iPhone (which is utter madness – given what a tiny keyboard it has) but there’s nothing like a paper journal, sitting in the woods, or camped out at a corner table at my favorite bagel shop (stoned on the scent of fresh baked bread!).
My “real” writer friends all use notebooks, and I feel so non authentic because I don’t. But I have a blank book fetish, and buy many that always end up partially written in, and then pages torn out and shredded.
I do most of my writing on my Chromebook, but I honestly think my best writing is done when I put pen to paper, I can’t explain why.
I so understand…I still love the feel of pen and paper, sometimes I am somewhere and I start writing on pieces of scrap paper, posted notes etc. I now try to make it a habit to have a small pocket sized notebook to scribble words down when I get inspired. My iphone gets used a lot too, especially in the kamode…lol
Love the question, and the various responses. Each of us has our own way and yet, there is no “right way” or wrong … Thanks for prompting this discussion.
I love notebooks! Weird thing is, when I try to write in one, I feel like I can’t think of what to write. But I still think they’re awesome…and kind of have way more notebooks than I need. 🙂
Yep, I’m a notebook writer. I always have one with me in my bag when I go out. There’s one next to my bed too, incase I have a flash of brilliance while I’m asleep – or maybe something in a dream makes me go, “Oooh what a good ide. Like you, the writing is in no particular order and you might find a poem or notes from a sermon in the middle of one of my story LOL
love it!
Most everything goes on paper first for me – a Moleskin (how pretentious 🙂 The I transfer to the computer. Wrote my first book almost entirely by hand. I AM using the laptop more for my second book. Don’t know why. Maybe that’s why I am at a sticking point! Back to the paper I go 🙂
I’d be lost without my notebook – it’s full of my ideas, inspirations, entire passages of my book. Yes, it means typing it all out. But I’m good with that 😉
At home I always write on my laptop but I also carry a notebook with me to work just in case inspiration whispers into my ear.
I too have a tug-of-war between ink and screen. I write much more unfiltered on paper, which is great to keep my internal editor at bay, but I love the searchability and ease of versioning in computer. I tend to lean towards screen for writing, mostly because it keeps things orderly and I absolutely loathe having to type up my handwritten material, yet feel compelled to do it. 🙂
PS- Thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my post!
Oh jeez, I do this, too. I’ll start typing something, but then I’ll get tired of staring at a computer screen, or think words will flow better if I switch to writing by hand in an old college-rule notebook, so I dig out a pen. There have been times when working on a specific project that I switch back and forth three or four or five times in one evening. (Shakes head at self…)
Great point! I recently started doing free writes in notebooks, and I have to agree, there is something very nice about it. So direct, no distractions. Normally I write on my computer, which I love for its portability and convenience. Thanks for checking out my blog and I look forward to reading more of your work!
Glad you stopped by my place, because then I got to stop by yours! Have enjoyed my little tour here. I have oodles of notebooks, scraps of paper, etc. My last story was 4000 words and all on computer…so I’m getting it. What was the best motivator? Having to type 25+ years of writing…still doing that. Some have suggested a voice program, others hiring a college student…we’ll see. Thank you, Patti
Me, I’m all keyboard, almost all at least. Writing in notebooks, for me, is halting and I can’t write fast enough to flow. At a keyboard it’s like the words gush from my fingertips. I so admire you for using notebooks. It must be such a different way to write, far more languid with everything flowing in slowly so you can savour. Whatever gets from the mind to the page is good right? ^_^
I do part of my writing on keyboard and my iPad… But my most important and inspired works start out on paper. I have more Molskein notebooks, formerly blank books and college ruled notebooks than I can count. There is just something wonderful about the tactile sensation of writing on paper that I, myself, can’t set aside.
I carry my laptop everywhere but in the end I’m always more at home with a pen and a notebook in my hand so that’s where I do the primary writing 🙂
I used to be a purely computer person, since about 1990. But in the past 5 years or so I’ve gone back to long hand writing, and then doing the first edit when I type it up later. I like the feel of the pen and the notebook. And it’s easier to remain an inconspicuous viewer of the world when you just have a notebook and pen than a computer or other piece of technology.
Also, notebooks and pens don’t run out of battery power. “Ooh, look, my pen’s down. Pen’s down. I guess I’ll… go spend 50cents and buy another one.”
I know what you mean.. except with me its even worse, all my school notebooks and even notebooks i use in college for classes are filled with my thoughts, stories and musings, typing it up on a laptop or even on the phone’s no good. I carry pens and a notebook with me everywhere! Fear not! You are not alone in this world of ink and paper ^_^
Thanks for stopping by
Hi there,
most of the time I use a notebook, sometimes type on my laptop. But the funniest experience is when I leave the house but have to write: I use a recorder while walking then write the texts on my notebook later down. In between, the verses have become “songs”.
I have a strange habit of buying a ton of notebooks every year at Back to School sales, but then use my laptop anyway… what can I say I need the Search button…
I’m totally the same way, I carry a notebook at all times. You never know when inspiration will strike. I’ve got them strewn everywhere, no real rhyme or reason to it. I like them cause I can go back and re-read what I wrote, it can bring me back to the moment I wrote it, or can inspire something new.
Alysia, first of all I want to thank you for following Writing I Am. As to the above; the computer, a notebook and pen in my pocket and mini recorder next to my bed for those crazy-wonderful ideas that come when you’re still half asleep.
Gotta be prepared 🙂
Pen/pencil – paper, and yes if need be napkins. If none of those are available then the memo section on the phone, because I know I will lose a good thought/idea if I do not jot it down right then and there. If I have a notebook then I can keep rolling with the idea. My work does not make it to the computer until I have completed it on paper first. It may seem redundant, but for me there’s really no replacement for pen and paper.
Oh and btw…..sorry I got sidetracked, my purpose for stopping by was to thank you for stopping at Aspiring to Inspire and liking “Annoyance.” I appreciate your time.
I use my laptop a lot, but I have a notebook full of everything from bits ofnpoetry, stories and blog posts to what my homework is and to do lists. I need to get some more notebooks though.
It is a shame there is not a ‘love’ button as well as a ‘like’ button because this was wonderful, I have an obsession with notebooks and have always written everything by pen (or preferably, pencil) first and then typed and edited as I go after. I wrote my first novel by hand (approx 115k words) and have only now finished typing it up (wish me luck with the editing!). Old school writers are the best kind, pal I am a writer not a typist!
keep smiling and keep writing, kind regards, Kieran (Baldy) 🙂
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